Trying to navigate and smooth out cellulite fact from fiction isn’t easy but there is a small amount of good news: there are options that may make a difference. The bad news is that even the treatments that have some potential of working (and I say potential of working very carefully) rarely live up to the claims asserted, but improvement as opposed to merely
wasting your money is definitely a turn for the better. A great way to start is to straighten out some popular myths about cellulite.
Men don’t get cellulite. To some extent that’s true, only about 5% of men have cellulite. Physiologically, women are far more prone to accumulating fat on the thighs and hips, while men gain weight in the abdominal area. Plus, for women, the connective tissue beneath the skin has more stretch and is vulnerable to disruption, which is the perfect environment for developing cellulite. Some men do get cellulite—just not as many as women, statistically. (Source: Journal of Cosmetic Science, March-April 2005, pages 105-120.)
Drinking water doesn’t change fat or cellulite. If water could change skin structure and reduce fat I assure you no one would have cellulite, or would be overweight for that matter. Drinking water probably is beneficial (although there is really no research showing how much is healthy versus unhealthy) but there is no research showing that water consumption will impact fat anywhere on your body, let alone the dimples on your thighs.
Arguments for high water intake are generally based on the assumption that because our bodies consist mostly of water (50% to 70% of body weight, about 42 liters) and our blood, muscles, brain, and bones are made up mainly of water (85%, 80%, 75%, and 25%, respectively), we therefore need at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day. But assumptions aren’t science, and this one is based on a non sequitur; it’s like arguing that since our cars run on gasoline they always need a full tank to run efficiently. (Source: American Journal of Physiology — Regulatory, Integrative, and Comparative Physiology, November 2002, pages 993-1004.)
Water retention doesn’t cause cellulite. It’s ironic that low water intake is considered a possible cause of cellulite, and the polar opposite—retaining too much water—is thought to be a factor as well. There is lots of speculation around how water retention can affect cellulite, but there is no actual research supporting this notion. Further, fat cells actually contain only about 10% water, so claiming to eliminate excess water won’t make a difference and any measurable result would be transient at best. It is true that water retention can make you look bloated and feel like you’ve gained weight, but water itself doesn’t impact fat or the appearance of cellulite. (Source: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, November 2003, pages 817-821.)
There’s no specialized diet that can specifically address cellulite. Eating healthy is always a good thing for your entire body. However, because weight in and of itself is not a cause of cellulite, dieting won’t change the skin structure of your thighs, which is what causes the dimpled contours to show. For some people, cellulite is made worse by the accumulation of extra fat. In those cases, weight reduction may decrease the total area and depth of cellulite but it is unlikely to get rid of it altogether. (Source: Clinical Dermatology, July-August 2004, pages 303-309.)
Cellulite is not different from fat on the rest of the body. Theories abound about how cellulite differs from regular body fat. However, few studies show how cellulite clumps differently than other fat on your body. Overall, most researchers feel cellulite is just fat, plain and simple. Besides, even if cellulite is different in how it congregates, what you can and can’t do about fat on any part of the body remains the same. (Source: www. quackwatch. org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/cellulite. html.)
Exercise isn’t a cure for cellulite. Exercise helps almost every system in the human body, but it won’t necessarily impact the appearance of cellulite. Exercise doesn’t improve skin structure and it can’t affect localized areas of fat. In other words, you can’t spot-reduce fat accumulation in a specific area. (Source: British Journal of Plastic Surgery, April 2004, pages 222-227.)
Toxins don’t cause cellulite and trying to detox isn’t helpful in the least. For consumers, detoxifying the body has taken on the meaning of purging it of pollutants or any other problem substances, whether from the environment or in the foods we eat. In terms of the way this concept has been mass-marketed, there is little research showing credible efficacy as to whether detoxification of the body is even possible. However, “detoxifying” the body, as it is used in the scientific community, describes the process of reducing cellular damage, primarily by means of antioxidants or enzymes that prevent certain abnormal or undesirable cell functions from taking place. There is no doubt this is helpful for the body. Whether or not this reduces cellulite is completely unknown, because skin structure and fat accumulation are not caused by toxins in the environment. Furthermore, there are no studies showing that toxins of any kind prevent fat from being broken down. (Sources: Journal of Endotoxin Research, April 2005, pages 69-84; and Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, May 2003, pages 258-264.)
